In a “Special Newsletter” sent out on 3/9/17, Rep. Mark Amodei wrote:
“The House has introduced legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. I’m sure you have questions and are looking for specifics about the bill, so I wanted to share the bill with you here. I welcome your thoughts and feedback and I’d also like to share with you where I currently stand on this issue.
I’ve always said we need health care reform. Is Obamacare broken? I believe that it is. Just look at the facts: premiums are soaring, options are limited, and 18 out of the 23 original co-ops have failed. Not to mention the fact that nearly one-third of counties across the nation have only one insurer to choose from – a side effect that is especially present in Nevada where residents in 10 counties have been denied the choices and affordability originally promised by Obamacare.
However, I also believe that there are some successful aspects of our current system that we should keep, such as ensuring individuals with pre-existing conditions have access to the care they need and young adults have the option to stay on their parent’s health care plan until age 26.
I’ve also always said House Leadership should provide time, through committee hearings, to discuss the many facets related to our nation’s health care system. To date, I’m incredibly disappointed that the House has failed to have any meaningful committee hearings – denying governors, health care professionals, and other stakeholders an opportunity to explain on the record what this means for the American people.
As the saying goes, “nothing good happens after midnight.” Sound policy is not going to come out of marathon markups that go through the night and into the next day. So now I must ask, what if anything, have Republicans learned from Democrats hastily pushing Obamacare through Congress seven years ago? Apparently, we haven’t learned anything from our experience in 2010, because markups have simply become opportunities for Members on both sides of the aisle to practice their floor speeches.
Instead of going about this process in an open, transparent, and collaborative manner, House Leadership has opted for a rushed approach – undercutting sound analysis, public transparency, and the time necessary to determine the implications of their policy.
The people of Nevada elected me to Congress – not a think tank. Whipping up a bill behind closed doors and rushing it through Congress is not the type of process that builds people’s confidence in Congress’ work product.
In any event, I wanted to take an opportunity to assure you that my staff and I will keep doing our homework, breaking down the door to gather information about this bill. Our goal is to ensure this reform package will increase Americans’ access to quality and affordable care, while paying respect to rural communities like ours.
As always, I will continue to play to the issues and not the politics. I will make up my mind based on what the House has accomplished in terms of fixing the top-line issues outlined above and if this bill is sensible for Nevada.
I hope you appreciate this special edition update. I ask that you take a moment to review this proposal and let me know what you think through my website. Thank you for subscribing to my newsletter and stay tuned for my regular weekly update. “
Subsequent to sending out his above “Special Newsletter” he went on MSNBC to say he was a “NO” vote on the GOP’s (Un)American Health Care Act. He also included a link to that interview with MSNBC’s Ali Velshi in a subsequent email to constituents. Here’s that video interview:
Subsequent to that, Rep. Amodei attended a meeting hosted by the president, who declared that all of those in the room (which included Rep. Amodei), came in as “NOs” and were now YESes. The vote has now been scheduled for Thursday, tomorrow, in the US House of Representatives. I guess we’ll have to watch the vote tomorrow to see if Rep. Amodei is a man of his word, or just some malleable lump of clay that can be molded by others to suit their political needs regardless of the needs of the citizens of Nevada. Will he bow to “politics” or will he represent us? That remains to be seen.